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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/churchmissionaryOOunse 


THE  CHURCH 
MISS  I  O  N  A  R  Y 
COMMITTEE 


A  Manual  of  Suggestions  on  a 
Unified  Program  of  Mission¬ 
ary  Education  and  Giving 
in  the  Local  Church 


Price,  5  Cents 


Autliorized  by  tlie  Annual  Conference  of 
Forei}<n  Misj^ion  Boards,  tlie  Home  Missions 
Council,  the  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement 
and  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  and  prepared 
and  published  under  the  direction  of  a  com¬ 
mission  of  twelve  members  appointed  by 
these  four  bodies. 


Copyright,  1911, 

RY 

IMissioxary  Edfcatiox  Moyemext  of  the 
UxiTEi)  States  axd  Caxada 


Foreword 


The  reasons  for  issnin"  this  manual  are 
to  magnify  the  unity  of  the  local  church  in 
its  missionary  instruction,  praying,  giving, 
and  service,  and  to  present  a  comprehensive 
scheme  of  organization  capable  of  being 
adopted  in  full,  or  as  fully  as  local  condi¬ 
tions  at  present  permit.  The  purpose  of  the 
manual  is  to  suggest  a  method  by  which  all 
flepartments  of  the  church,  with  their  va¬ 
ried  activities  and  interests,  may  cooperate 
in  developing  the  highest  missionary  effi¬ 
ciency  of  the  Church  as  a  whole,  while  re¬ 
taining  their  separate  character  and  service. 
That  there  is  need  of  such  unification  of  ef¬ 
fort  is  clearly  demonstrated  in  common  ex¬ 
perience.  The  suggestions  contained  in  this 
manual  are  all  based  on  actual  experience 
and  a  wide  consensus  of  judgment  as  to  the 
methods  best  designed  to  bring  largest  s]n‘r- 
itual,  educational,  and  financial  results.  The 
manual  will  be  revised  from  time  to  time, 
as  further  experience  may  make  desirable. 
Tt  is  sent  forth  by  the  Commission  with  the 
earnest  hope  that  candid  consideration  mav 
be  given  to  its  suggestions  and  that  multi¬ 
tudes  of  churches  and  workers  may  be  as¬ 
sisted  in  their  effort  to  hasten  the  extension 
of  Christ’s  kingdom. 


3 


A  Plan  for  the  Organization  and  Work 
of  the  Church  Missionary  Committee 

FIELDS  OF  WORK 


PHASES  OF  WORK 


General  Outline 


I.  The  Church  Missionary  Committee 

PAGE 


1.  JJliat  It  Is .  7 

2.  Uliy  Needed .  8 

3.  How  Organised .  9 


II.  Fields  of  Work  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee 


1.  Congregational  Activities .  11 

2.  The  Sunday  School .  12 

3.  The  Young  People’s  Society .  14 

4.  Men’s  Organizations .  15 

5.  IP’ omen’s  Societies .  16 


III.  Phases  of  Work  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee 

1.  A  Program  of  Education . 17-26 

(1)  Public  Presentation  of  the  Sub¬ 

ject  of  Missions .  18 

(2)  The  Monthly  Missionary  ^Meetings  18 

(3)  Mission  Study  Classes .  21 

(4)  Graded  Missionary  Instruction....  22 

(5)  The  Use  of  Literature,  Charts,  and 

Other  Accessories .  24 

(6)  Correspondence  . .  26 

5 


General  Outline — Contuiued 


PAGE 


2.  A  Program  of  Prayer . 26-30 

(1)  Public  Instruction  on  Prayer  and 

Missions  . . .  27 

(2)  Monthly  or  Other  ]\lissionary 

Prayer  Meetings .  29 

(3)  The  Enlistment  of  Individuals...  29 


3.  A  Program  of  Finance  ............. .30-37 

(1)  The  Individual  Subscription.....  30 

(2)  The  Annual  Every-Member  Can¬ 

vass  . 31 

(3)  The  Weekly  Envelope .  32 

(4)  The  Specific  Object . 34 

(5)  Christian  Stewardship... .  34 

(6)  A  Standard . 35 

(7)  Correlation  of  Giving  Plans .  35 

4.  A  Program  of  Service . . . 37-38 

(1)  The  Enlistment  and  Training  of 

Workers  . .  37 

(2)  A  Survey  of  the  Community  and 

the  Enrolment  for  Personal  Ser¬ 
vice  . 38 


(3)  Christian  Service  as  a  Life-Work..  38 

(4)  The  Christian’s  Vocation  and  Ser¬ 


vice  .  38 

IV.  Bibliography . . . 38-40 


6 


THE  CHURCH 
MISSIONARY  COMMITTEE 


Unified  Program  of  Education 
and  Giving  in  the 
Local  Church 


I.  The  Church  Missionary  Committee 

Since  it  is  the  mission  of  the  whole 
Church  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
world,  the  work  of  the  Missionary  Com¬ 
mittee  is  central  in  the  life  of  the  Church. 
Hence,  it  becomes  increasingly  necessary  to 
bring  this  Committee  to  its  highest  effi¬ 
ciency. 

I.  JV hat  It  Is 

It  is  a  permanent  church  committee  ex¬ 
ercising  a  general  supervision  of  the  entire 
home  and  foreign  missionary  activities  of 
the  local  church. 

It  is  officially  appointed  or  elected  by  the 
church  at  the  opening  of  each  church  year. 
In  order  to  guarantee  continuity  of  policies 
and  progression  in  work,  it  is  desirable  that 

7 


provision  be  made  for  a  majority  of  the 
Committee  to  hold  over,  each  year. 

It  is  representative  of  all  departments  of 
the  church,  namely,  the  congregation 
through  the  official  boards,  the  men's  or¬ 
ganizations,  the  women’s  societies,  the 
Sunday-school,  and  the  young  people’s  so¬ 
ciety.  The  pastor  should  always  be  e.r- 
ofticio  a  member  of  the  Committee.  He 
should  keep  constantly  behind  the  commit¬ 
tee,  ever  putting  others  forward,  inspiring, 
counseling,  and  guiding.  Ordinarily  it  is 
advisable  that  a  layman  be  chairman. 

In  the  case  of  churches  whose  Church 
Missionary  Committee  is  composed  entirely 
of  men,  not  representing  the  several  depart¬ 
ments,  unified  action  should  be  sought  by 
arranging  several  conferences  each  year  be¬ 
tween  the  Committee  and  the  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  different  departments. 

In  small  churches  the  Committee  usually 
consists  of  from  five  to  seven  members. 
For  the  larger  churches,  with  many  depart¬ 
ments,  it  may  be  well  to  increase  the  num¬ 
ber  by  the  addition  of  several  members  at 
large.  Only  those  should  be  appointed 
whose  hearts  are  in  the  work,  who  command 
confidence,  and  are  prayerful,  energetic, 
tactful,  and  persistent.  So  far  as  possible, 
those  appointed  should  be  relieved  of  other 
work.  Hence  the  Committee  should  not  be 
confined  to  church  officers. 

2.  Why  Needed 

(i)  Fecause  the  Church,  being  primarily 
a  missionary  society,  requires  efficient  lead- 

8 


crship,  in  order  to  realize  and  fulfil  its  great 
mission  to  the  world. 

•(2)  Because,  to  secure  a  maximum  of 
efficiency  with  a  minimum  of  machinery, 
the  Missionary  Committee  has  proved  the 
simplest  and  most  effective  type  of  organi¬ 
zation. 

(3)  Because  it  distributes  and  locates  re¬ 
sponsibility,  sets  many  at  work,  and  lightens 
the  pastor's  responsibility. 

(4)  Because  it  unifies  the  activities  of 
men,  women,  and  young  people,  and  coordi¬ 
nates  the  several  departments  around  the 
central  purpose  of  the  Church. 

(5)  Because  it  puts  the  aggressive  mis¬ 
sionary  work  of  the  Church  on  as  stable  a 
financial  basis  as  the  maintenance  of  the 
Church. 

(6)  Because  it  supplies  a  missing  link 
between  the  local  congregation  and  the  mis¬ 
sionary  agencies  of  the  Church  at  large,  and 
affords  a  connection  with  the  interdenomi¬ 
national  forces. 

3.  Hozi/  Organized 

The  Committee,  as  soon  as  appointed, 
should  organize,  electing  a  chairman  and 
secretary.  Regular  meetings  should  be  held, 
ordinarily  once  every  month,  at  a  time  fixed 
in  advance  so  that  the  members  can  ar¬ 
range  to  be  present. 

Each  member  should  he  assigned  some 
definite  part  of  the  work  for  which  he  is 
best  qualified.  At  the  regular  meeting  re¬ 
ports  from  each  department  should  be  pre¬ 
sented  and  each  phase  of  the  work  re- 

9 


viewed.  Part  of  the  time  should  be  devoted 
to  united  study,  with  careful  previous  prep¬ 
aration,  covering  a  course  specially  adapted 
to  promote  the  efficiency  of  the  Committee  ; 
part  of  the  time  should  also  be  spent  in 
definite  and  united  prayer. 

Since  the  Committee  federates  the  vari¬ 
ous  missionary  departments  and  activities  of 
the  church,  its  members  have  a  dual  super¬ 
visory  responsibility.  The  first  is  to  pro¬ 
mote  the  missionary  plans  of  the  congrega¬ 
tion  as  a  whole,  designated  in  the  chart  on 
“Fields  of  Work”  by  the  phrase  “Congre¬ 
gational  Activities.”  The  second  is  to  fos¬ 
ter  the  missionary  activities  of  the  different 
departments  and  organizations  represented 
on  the  Church  Missionary  Committee,  by 
reviewing  their  policies,  methods,  and  plans, 
articulating  their  efforts,  and  aiding  their 
committees  in  the  performance  of  their 
duties. 

A  chief  purpose  of  the  Church  Committee 
will  thus  be  to  aid  the  dififerent  departments 
and  committees  in  developing  the  fullest 
missionary  strength  possible,  especially  by 
helping  at  the  weakest  points,  by  making 
far-sighted  provision  for  the  training  of 
leaders,  and  by  the  frequent  review  of  all 
the  missionary  activities  of  the  Church,  pre¬ 
venting  unintentional  overlapping  or  dupli¬ 
cation  of  effort,  thus  unifying  the  entire 
system  of  missionary  cultivation. 

In  carrying  out  the  duty  assigned  to  each 
member  of  the  Committee,  liberty  should  be 
given  to  enlist  the  service  of  such  associates 
as  may  seem  advisalfiie. 

10 


II.  Fields  of  Work  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee 

I..  Congregational  Activities 

It  is  probably  a  fair  statement  that  nine 
tenths  of  the  money  for  foreign  missions  is 
given  by  one  tenth  of  the  church-members. 
Not  many  would  question  that  in  the  aver¬ 
age  church  fully  three  fourths  of  the  money 
for  both  home  and  foreign  missions  is  still 
given  by  not  over  one  fourth  of  the  mem¬ 
bers.  Aloreover,  the  organizations  of  the 
young  people  and  the  women  and  children 
are  frequently  far  in  advance  of  the  con¬ 
gregation  in  giving,  as  well  as  in  missionary 
organization,  mission  study,  and  general 
missionary  intelligence. 

These  facts  illustrate  the  general  failure 
to  plan  intelligently  for  the  missionary  ac¬ 
tivities  of  the  congregation  as  a  whole. 
Wherever  the  pastor  has  recognized  and 
faithfully  used  his  prerogative  as  the  divine¬ 
ly  appointed  leader,  teacher,  and  example  in 
prayer,  education,  and  giving,  for  missions, 
and  when,  through  a  well-selected  and  rep¬ 
resentative  Church  Missionary  Committee, 
the  monthly  missionary  prayer-meeting,  the 
every-member  canvass,  the  weekly  offering, 
and  other  forms  of  missionary  method  have 
been  thoroughly  applied,  a  marked  increase 
in  giving  and  general  missionary  efficiency 
of  the  congregation  has  resulted. 

The  chief  duties  of  the  Committee  in  re¬ 
lation  to  the  congregation  will  be  to  assist 

11 


the  pastor  in  conducting  the  monthly  mis¬ 
sionary  survey  and  prayer  service,  to  pro¬ 
mote  mission  study  among  the  members  of 
the  congregation,  in  harmony  with  other 
mission  study  plans,  to  foster  the  circulation 
of  the  denominational  missionary  magazine 
and  other  periodicals,  book  and  pamphlet 
literature,  to  supervise  the  every-member 
canvass,  and  to  promote  missionary  prayer, 
education,  giving,  and  service  in  other  ways 
most  suited  to  the  congregational  life. 

Since  the  congregational  activities  thus 
outlined  are  peculiarly  suited  to  men,  the 
membership  of  the  Church  Missionary  Com¬ 
mittee  should  include  a  large  proportion  of 
laymen. 

2.  The  Sunday  School 

The  Sunday-school  is  acknowledged  to 
be  one  of  the  strongest  educational  institu¬ 
tions  in  the  church,  and  it  reaches  the 
largest  number  of  impressionable  persons. 
Missionary  education  has  a  place  in  the 
Sunday-school  both  for  the  sake  of  the 
Church  of  the  future  and  for  immediate  re¬ 
sults.  The  Sunday-school  missionary  com¬ 
mittee,  on  whom  rests  the  primary  respon¬ 
sibility  of  introducing  and  maintaining  mis¬ 
sionary  instruction  in  the  Sunday-school, 
thus  has  an  opportunity  scarcely  less  im¬ 
portant  than  that  of  the  congregation.  This 
committee  should  be  elected  or  appointed  to 
represent  all  of  the  departments  of  the 
school,  and  its  chairman  should  be  a  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Church  ]\Iissionary  Committee. 

It  should  endeavor  to  make  the  entire 


12 


school  missionary  in  spirit,  knowledge,  and 
service.  It  should  study  the  needs  of  the 
various  grades  and  seek  to  discover  the  best 
study  material  and  methods  which  the 
teachers  themselves  may  use  with  profit. 
The  superintendent  and  officers  may  be 
helped  by  the  provision  of  missionary  open¬ 
ing  and  closing  exercises.  Good  missionary 
books  should  be  provided  for  the  Sunday- 
school  library,  and  no  effort  should  be 
spared  to  get  them  widely  circulated  and 
read.  Missionary  material  for  both  class 
and  platform  instruction  may  be  secured 
from  the  denominational  mission  boards. 

A  missionary  atmosphere  may  be  created 
in  the  entire  school  by  the  use  of  framed 
photographs  of  great  missionaries  and  mis¬ 
sionary  events,  the  bulletin-board,  mottoes, 
maps,  charts,  and  the  Christian  flag.  The 
expression  of  the  Christian  life  in  personal 
service  should  be  studied  by  the  Sunday- 
school  missionary  committee  in  order  that 
methods  adapted  to  the  various  grades  may 
be  discovered  and  utilized.  A  financial 
policy  for  the  missionary  offerings  of  the 
school  should  be  worked  out  in  harmony 
with  that  of  the  church. 

The  Sunday-school  missionary  committee 
should  provide  itself  with  the  best  books 
of  methods,  missionary  magazines,  and 
catalogues,  in  order  to  keep  in  touch 
with  the  best  and  newest  methods  and 
material. 

Through  the  Church  Missionary  Com¬ 
mittee  the  missionary  policy  of  the  Sunday- 
school  will  need  to  be  correlated  with  that 

13 


of  other  departments  in  the  local  church. 
The  children  may  be  members  of  several 
juvenile  organizations ;  the  young  people 
will  have  separate  organizations  ;  and  the 
Adult  Bible  Class  members  will  be  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  various  Men’s  and  Women’s 
Societies.  Only  through  the  Church  Mis¬ 
sionary  Committee  can  a  program  of  mis¬ 
sionary  education  and  giving  be  outlined 
which  will  avoid  duplication  of  effort  and 
produce  the  highest  possible  efficiency. 

Most  of  the  phases  of  work  outlined  in 
this  manual  are  applicable  to  the  Sunday- 
school.  The  section  of  special  significance 
is  that  on  Graded  Missionary  Instruction. 

3.  The  Young  People's  Society 

The  most  successful  methods  of  mission¬ 
ary  organization  and  service  in  the  young 
people’s  society  are  the  mission  study  class, 
the  monthly  missionary  meeting,  the  circula¬ 
tion  of  missionary  literature  for  reading 
purposes,  the  organization  and  conduct  of  a 
missionary  exhibit,  the  organization  and 
promotion  of  giving,  and  practical  forms  of 
personal  service  within  the  community.  The 
society  should  cooperate  with  the  pastor 
and  the  Church  Missionary  Committee  in 
harmonizing  its  plans  with  those  of  other 
departments  of  the  church,  and  in  carrying 
out  the  plans  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Committee  by  contributing  workers  when¬ 
ever  and  wherever  possible.  The  Church 
Missionary  Committee  should  recognize  that 
the  principle  of  work  for  young  people  by 

14 


young  people  is  fundamental  in  the  most 
successful  schemes  of  religious  education 
for  the  ages  from  fifteen  to  twenty.  By 
representation  in  the  Church  [Missionary 
Committee,  these  activities  can  be  harmon¬ 
ized  with  the  comprehensive  plan  of  edu¬ 
cation  and  giving  of  the  church  as  a  whole. 
Literature  for  young  people’s  societies 
should  be  ordered  from  the  Home  or  For¬ 
eign  Mission  Boards. 


4.  Men's  Organizations 

The  [Men’s  Club  or  Brotherhood,  the  or¬ 
ganized  Bible  classes  of  young  or  adult  men, 
and  other  organized  societies  of  men  may 
be  utilized  in  carrying  out  a  comprehensive 
plan  of  missionary  activity  in  the  local 
church.  All  plans  should  be  harmonized 
through  the  Church  [Missionary  Committee 
with  similar  plans  in  other  departments,  and 
especially  with  the  congregational  mission¬ 
ary  activities.  The  promotion  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  life  of  the  members  of  men’s  organ¬ 
izations  can  be  carried  on  best  by  prayer 
for  missions  and  missionaries  in  each  week¬ 
ly  meeting,  the  frequent  presentation  of 
current  missionary  topics  in  regular  meet¬ 
ings,  participation  in  the  monthly  mission¬ 
ary  meeting  of  the  church,  the  organization 
of  mission  study  classes  of  men,  lectures 
and  addresses  on  missionary  subjects 
(sometimes  with  stereopticon  views),  the 
enlistment  of  men  as  regular  contributors 
to  missions,  and  cooperation  in  the  every- 
member  canvass. 


15 


5-  Women's  Societies 

In  many  churches  one  missionary  society 
of  women  comprehends  both  home  and  for¬ 
eign  missionary  interests.  In  other  churches 
separate  societies  exist  side  by  side.  But 
in  either  case  the  missionary  society  or  so¬ 
cieties  should  be  represented  on  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee.  The  chief  methods 
employed  by  missionary  societies  of  women 
through  which  the  interest  of  their  mem¬ 
bers  and  friends  is  aroused  and  maintained 
are  regular  meetings  for  prayer,  the  study 
of  missions  by  use  of  text-books  and 
through  lectures,  the  circulation  of  a  va¬ 
riety  of  leaflet,  pamphlet,  and  periodical  lit¬ 
erature,  the  collection  of  funds,  practical 
personal  service  among  and  for  the  needy 
of  the  community  and  for  distant  mission 
stations,  at  home  and  abroad,  and  the  spe¬ 
cial  training  and  instruction  in  missions  of 
young  women  and  children. 

Because  of  the  great  variety  of  these  ac¬ 
tivities  there  is  increasing  need  of  correla¬ 
tion  of  plans  between  the  women’s  societies 
and  the  other  organizations  of  the  church. 
The  aim  of  this  effort  to  unify  should  not 
be  to  destroy  independent  initiative,  but  by 
conference  and  joint  planning  to  avoid  un¬ 
due  multiplication  of  appeals  for  gifts,  pre¬ 
vent  overlapping  in  educational  and  finan¬ 
cial  plans,  and  create  a  consciousness  of  the 
unity  of  the  church  as  a  whole. 

Two  series  of  mission  study  text-books 
for  women  are  being  published,  one  on  for¬ 
eign  missions  by  the  Central  Committee  on 

16 


the  United  Study  of  Missions  of  the  wo¬ 
men’s  foreign  missionary  societies,  and  the 
other  on  home  missions  by  the  Council  of 
Women  for  Home  Missions.  Orders  for 
these  books  should  be  sent  to  the  denomina¬ 
tional  Women’s  Societies. 


III.  Phases  of  Work  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee 

I.  A  Program  of  Education 

The  important  duty  of  planning  and  exe¬ 
cuting  a  comprehensive  scheme  of  mission¬ 
ary  education  for  the  entire  church  falls  to 
the  Church  Missionary  Committee.  The 
methods  to  be  employed  vary  widely  in 
character  in  the  different  departments  of 
the  church.  For  this  reason  and  because 
usually  each  department  plans  its  mission¬ 
ary  educational  activities  independently  of 
the  others,  unity  is  lacking,  many  members 
of  the  congregation  receive  no  instruction  at 
all,  and  the  results  are  far  below  the  stand¬ 
ard  possible  when  a  representative  commit¬ 
tee  plans  and  works  for  the  church  as  a 
whole.  The  general  educational  ideal  should 
be  tO'  give  some  missionary  instruction  to 
every  member  of  the  congregation  with  all 
educational  activities  harmonized  and  uni¬ 
fied.  In  providing  the  necessary  education¬ 
al  material  some  expense  is  inevitably  in¬ 
curred,  and  funds  should  be  appropriated 
for  this  purpose  through  the  church  budget 
as  for  the  expense  of  any  other  church  com¬ 
mittee.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  Committee 

17 


will  be  obliged  to  secure  the  funds  in  some 
other  way. 

(1)  Public  Presentation  of  the  Subject 

of  Missions 

The  human  voice,  as  heard  from  the  pul¬ 
pit,  will  reach  a  larger  number  of  people 
than  any  other  agency.  Missionary  ser¬ 
mons  by  the  pastor  or  others,  platform 
meetings  conducted  by  the  men  of  the 
church  or  by  invited  speakers,  missionary 
programs  rendered  by  the  Sunday-school 
or  other  organizations,  are  indispensable  in 
a  comprehensive  plan  of  education.  Some 
pastors  never  preach  a  “missionary  sermon” 
because  all  their  public  messages  abound  in 
illustrations,  incidents,  information,  and  ap¬ 
plications  drawn  from  past  and  current  mis¬ 
sionary  history.  This  method  is  ideal,  de¬ 
manding  in  the  pastor  large  sympathies, 
constant  and  wide  reading,  discriminating 
observation  and  judgment  of  world  events, 
and  recognition  of  the  universal  mission  of 
Christianity,  but  it  should  not  supersede  the 
occasional  special  missionary  message.  It 
is  especially  important  that  missionary  ser¬ 
mons  or  addresses  be  delivered  when  there 
is  to  be  no  special  missionary  offering. 
Heretofore  missionary  sermons  have  not 
been  popular  because  of  the  certain  knowl¬ 
edge  that  an  offering  was  to  be  taken.  The 
introduction  of  sermons  and  addresses  for 
their  educational  and  spiritual  value  is  high¬ 
ly  desirable  and  will  prove  most  effective. 

(2)  The  Monthly  Missionary  Meetings 

The  church  missionary  prayer-meeting 

will  be  alluded  to  under  “A  Program  of 

18 


Prayer,”  since  the  meeting  should  ordina¬ 
rily  take  the  place  of  the  regular  mid¬ 
week  prayer-meeting.  It  should,  however, 
never  be  forgotten  that  the  monthly  meeting 
constitutes  an  educational  opportunity  of  the 
first  order.  Similar  missionary  meetings 
should  also  be  held  at  regular  intervals  in 
connection  with  the  established  meetings  of 
the  young  people’s  society  and  other  organ¬ 
izations  of  the  church. 

Among  the  many  satisfactory  plans  for 
such  a  meeting,  the  following  is  suggested : 

Have  a  swift  survey  conducted  by  eight 
persons,  appointed  for  a  year,  who  are  to 
be  on  the  alert  to  discover  fresh  items  of 
current  events  afifecting  the  Kingdom,  each 
for  his  own  particular  arc  of  the  world 
horizon.  These  men  should  serve  as  re¬ 
porters,  not  speakers.  They  should  give 
each  month,  in  concise  and  graphic  terms, 
such  concrete  item  or  items  as  can  be  pre¬ 
sented  within  tzvo  mimites.  These  facts 
should  be  chosen  with  special  reference  to 
stimulating  prayer  and  should  be  followed 
by  or  interspersed  with  brief  prayer  or 
praise,  as  the  chairman  may  direct. 

Some  such  division  of  the  world  field  as 
the  following  is  suggested :  a.  The  Home 
Field ;  b.  Latin  America ;  c.  Japan-Korea ; 
d.  China  ;  e.  India  and  adjacent  countries  ; 
f.  The  Moslem  World ;  g.  Africa,  and  h. 
The  Island  World. 

The  main  topic  of  the  meeting  should  be 
planned  weeks  in  advance,  with  a  view  both 
to  variety  and  cumulative  impression.  While 
the  swift  survey  is  intended  to  give  the 

19 


extensive  view,  the  main  feature  should  be 
intensive. 

A  series  might  be  arranged  on  The  De¬ 
cisive  Hour  of  Christian  Missions,  follow¬ 
ing  the  chapters  of  the  text-book  of  that 
name,  and  drawing  upon  the  reports  of  the 
Commissions  of  the  World  Missionary  Con¬ 
ference  for  additional  material.  A  similar 
series  might  be  based  on  a  home  mission 
text-book,  such  as  Aliens  or  Americans f 
using  reference  volumes  and  magazine  arti¬ 
cles  for  collateral  reading.  Still  another 
series  might  consist  of  “Personally  Con¬ 
ducted  Tours  of  Inspection  of  Our  Work 
at  Home  and  Abroad,”  covering  The  Immi¬ 
grants,  The  Frontier,  The  Indian,  The 
Negro  in  America,  The  Problem  of  the 
City,  The  Country  Church,  The  Church  in 
Relation  to  Labor,  M'edical  Work  (typical 
hospitals  and  dispensaries).  Educational 
(schools  and  colleges).  Industrial  (shops, 
farms,  etc.).  Literary  (translation,  pub¬ 
lishing  houses,  etc.),  Philanthropic  (asy¬ 
lum,  homes  and  schools  for  lepers,  blind 
deaf,  insane,  widows  and  orphans).  Evan¬ 
gelistic  (churches,  Sunday-schools,  etc.), 
WomanN  Work  (incidents  showing  con¬ 
trasts  in  conditions). 

In  some  of  these  the  lantern  may  be  used 
to  advantage,  not  to  furnish  entertainment, 
but  to  visualize  the  work  more  strikingly. 
Programs  should  be  planned  so  as  to  enlist 
the  cooperation  of  many  people  in  the 
course  of  a  season.  The  several  depart¬ 
ments  and  missionary  societies  of  the 
church  should  take  charge  of  a  program 

20 


from  time  to  time.  Throughout  the  meet¬ 
ing  there  should  rim  a  current  of  prayer, 
with  specific  requests  put  on  the  black¬ 
board. 

(3)  Mission  Study  Classes 

The  mission  study  class  is  one  of  the  best 
agencies  yet  discovered  to  spread  definite 
and  adequate  missionary  information.  A 
mission  study  class  is  an  informal  group  of 
from  six  to  twelve  people  who  come  to¬ 
gether  at  regular  intervals,  preferably 
weekly,  for  a  short  study  of  some  definite 
missionary  problem  or  mission  field.  The 
average  text-book  can  be  completed  in  eight 
or  nine  sessions,  so  that  this  form  of  edu¬ 
cational  work  occupies  comparatively  little 
time.  Such  abundant  helps  have  been  pro¬ 
vided  that  the  problem  of  leadership  is  not 
more  difficult  than  that  of  teaching  a  Sun¬ 
day-school  class  well. 

An  excellent  series  of  mission  study  text¬ 
books  has  been  published  and  widely  used. 
They  are  adapted  to  various  classes  and 
ages.  Special  books  of  biographies  are  pre¬ 
pared  for  boys  and  girls  and  young  men 
and  women.  Classes  for  these  younger  peo¬ 
ple  will  usually  be  organized  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Sunday-school  or  junior 
organizations. 

Further  reference  is  made  to  this  under 
“Graded  Missionary  Instruction.”  Every 
church  should  aim  to  have  at  least  one 
class  each  year.  Most  churches  should 
form  several  groups  annually  for  the  study 
of  these  books.  An  abundance  of  material 
on  this  subject,  including  announcement  of 

21 


courses,  manuals  and  sug’gestions  for  or¬ 
ganizers  and  leaders,  and  special  helps  to 
accompany  each  volume  sent  free  to  lead¬ 
ers,  is  at  the  disposal  of  missionary  com¬ 
mittees  by  applying  to  the  Mission  Boards. 

(4)  Graded  Missionary  Instruction 

An  adequate  program  of  missionary  ed¬ 
ucation  for  the  local  church  will  include 
work  for  every  person  in  the  congregation 
— children,  boys  and  girls,  young  men  and 
women,  and  adults.  The  material  and 
methods  adopted  must,  therefore,  be  adapt¬ 
ed  to  the  needs,  interests,  and  capabilities  of 
the  different  ages.  Broadly  speaking,  there 
are  two  periods  of  life-development  up  to 
maturity,  namely  :  ( i )  that  which  precedes 

adolescence,  and  (2)  from  adolescence  to 
adult  life. 

The  period  under  thirteen  years  is  com¬ 
monly  divided,  for  purposes  of  religious 
education,  into  three  grades,  as  follows : 
Infancy,  from  birth  to  6  years  ;  childhood, 
6  to  8  years  :  boyhood  and  girlhood,  9  to  12 
years.  The  period  after  twelve  years  is 
similarlv  divided  into  three  grades,  as  fol¬ 
lows  :  Earlv  adolescence,  13  to  16  years; 
middle  adolescence,  17  to  20  years;  later 
adolescence,  21  to  25  years.  The  section 
of  this  manual  on  Adult  Study  contains  sug¬ 
gestions  for  the  period  above  21  years  of 
age. 

In  order  to  plan  broadly  and  wisely  for 
the  missionary  education  of  the  above- 
mentioned  ages  or  grades,  the  Church  Mis¬ 
sionary  Committee  will  need  to  consider  the 
following  suggestions : 


00 


a.  In  so  far  as  the  congreg^ation  is  repre¬ 
sented  in  the  Sunday-school,  there  is  no 
better  method  of  reaching  all  its  members 
than  by  the  adoption  in  the  Sunday-school 
of  a  study  curriculum  which  makes  pro¬ 
vision  for  missionary  instruction  as  an  es¬ 
sential  part  of  the  course.  The  new  Inter¬ 
national  Graded  Lessons,  now  issued  by 
many  denominations,  contain  missionary 
lessons  for  the  primary,  junior,  intermedi¬ 
ate,  and  senior  grades.  The  completely 
graded  series  of  the  Bible  Study  L^nion 
(Blakeslee  Lessons)  contain  admirable  mis¬ 
sionary  courses  for  the  intermediate  and 
senior  grades. 

By  the  adoption  of  such  a  curriculum,  the 
Sunday-school  may  have,  not  only  a  satis¬ 
factory  system  of  religious  education,  but 
also  a  scheme  of  missionary  instruction 
conceived  as  an  essential  part  of  the  child’s 
religious  training. 

b.  In  case  the  Sunday-school  does  not 
adopt  a  curriculum  like  that  referred  to 
above,  the  Church  Missionary  Committee, 
through  its  Sunday-school  representative, 
should  urge  the  teachers  of  the  different 
classes  to  provide  mission  study  as  a  part 
of  their  year’s  work.  The  classes  mav  meet 
with  their  regular  teacher  at  some  designat¬ 
ed  hour  through  the  week,  or  the  study  mav 
be  made  supplemental  to  the  regular  studv 
course  or  may  even  supplant  it  for  a  short 
period  of  weeks.  Material,  such  as  object- 
lessons  for  children,  stories  for  boys  and 
girls,  biogranhies  for  adolescents,  and  va¬ 
rious  topical  studies  for  young  people,  has 

28 


been  prepared  and  is  available  through  the 
Mission  Boards  for  immediate  use. 

c.  For  organizations  outside  the  Sunday- 
school,  such  as  juvenile  and  young  people’s 
societies,  mission  bands  and  boys’  and  girls’ 
clubs,  it  is  suggested  that  the  educational 
program  be  outlined  in  connection  with  the 
Sunday-school. 

Unless  these  groups  contain  large  num¬ 
bers  of  persons  not  in  the  Sunday-school, 
the  policy  of  the  latter  should  determine 
the  work  pursued  by  the  former.  For  in¬ 
stance,  if  the  Sunday-school  has  adopted 
the  International  Graded  Lessons  and  the 
children  of  ten  and  twelve  years  are  study¬ 
ing  stories  of  great  missionary  heroes,  and 
if  these  same  children  are  members  of  a 
juvenile  society,  which  meets  during  the 
week,  the  study  should  not  duplicate  but 
rather  supplement  the  Sunday-school  work. 
This  whole  matter  of  the  correlation  of  the 
educational  policies  of  these  various  organi¬ 
zations  should  be  considered  seriously  by 
every  Church  iMissionarv  Committee. 

(5)  The  Use  of  Literature,  Charts,  and 
Other  Accessories 

a.  The  Church  Missionary  Committee 
should  select  short  and  attractive  leaflets 
for  circulation.  Once  a  month  such  a  piece 
of  printed  matter  may  be  handed  to  each 
member  of  the  congregation  as  the  people 
pass  out  of  the  church.  The  pastor  can 
assist  the  Committee  by  announcing  the 
proposed  distribution,  and  reference  to  it 
should  be  made  in  the  printed  bulletin. 

b.  For  those  who  are  ready  to  read  more 

24 


extensively,  selected  pamphlets  should  be 
used.  These  should  be  distributed  person¬ 
ally,  with  a  word  of  recommendation.  Prac¬ 
tically  all  Home  and  Foreign  Mission 
Boards  publish  or  otherwise  furnish  such 
literature,  some  for  free  distribution,  and 
some  at  a  nominal  price.  Whatever  outlay 
is  necessary  in  order  to  do  this  more  thor¬ 
oughly  should  be  provided. 

c.  The  best  books  on  missions  should  be 
secured  and  circulated.  Members  of  the 
Committee  should  themselves  own  books,  so 
as  to  be  able  to  recommend  them  to  others. 
Each  church  should  have  its  own  library  of 
missionary  books,  selected  with  reference  to 
the  different  ages,  grades,  and  uses  to  be 
made  of  it.  Children  should  be  guided  into 
missionary  reading  by  parents  in  the  home 
as  well  as  by  teachers  and  officers  of  the 
Sunday-school,  by  personal  recommenda¬ 
tion,  during  the  devotional  exercises  and 
class  sessions.  New  books  should  be  added 
each  year.  Many  churches  find  it  desirable 
to  have  a  special  library  of  missionary  books 
and  pamphlets,  with  maps,  charts,  curios, 
and  other  accessories,  constantly  available. 
The  Mission  Boards  have  available  special 
sets  or  libraries  of  the  best  books,  at  great¬ 
ly  reduced  prices.  Other  volumes  can  be 
ordered  of  the  regular  publishers. 

d.  Special  effort  should  be  made  each 
vear  to  secure  subscriptions  to  tbe  denom¬ 
inational  missionary  magazines.  No  other 
literature  can  serve  as  a  substitute,  for 
through  these  magazines  come  monthly 
reports  of  the  work  and  workers  which  are 

25 


supported  by  prayer  and  contributions. 
Other  missionary  periodicals  listed  in  the 
bibliography  will  be  found  helpful  to  some 
of  the  workers  and  most  interested  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  church. 

e.  Accessories,  such  as  maps,  pictures, 
charts,  mottoes,  curios,  etc.,  through  the  use 
of  which  the  missionary  activities  of  the 
Church  of  Christ  are  made  more  real, 
should  be  collected  by  the  Church  Mission¬ 
ary  Committee  from  all  available  sources.  A 
missionary  atmosphere  is  created  by  them, 
if  attractively  displayed  and  wisely  used. 

(6)  Correspondence 

It  will  be  found  helpful  to  have  points  of 
contact  with  the  work  which  a  church  or 
society  is  helping  to  support,  according  to 
“The  Station  Plan”  or  “The  Parish  at 
Home  and  Abroad,”  in  use  by  several  of 
the  Home  and  Foreign  Mission  Boards. 
This  arrangement  provides  for  a  missionary 
to  serve  as  the  correspondent,  keeping  the 
supporting  constituency  in  touch  by  a  let¬ 
ter  as  often  as  quarterly. 

The  letters,  when  received,  will  be  read 
or  paraphrased  in  the  missionary  meeting, 
and  from  the  pulpit,  wholly  or  in  part ;  ex¬ 
tracts  be  published  in  the  church  bulletins 
and  in  local  newspapers,  and  copies  be  cir¬ 
culated  among  the  shut-ins  and  absentees. 
Photographs  and  other  objects  of  interest 
may  be  obtained  from  the  field  for  the  bul¬ 
letin-board  in  the  home  church. 

2.  A  Program  of  Prayer 

The  Church  ^lissionary  Committee 


26 


should  seek  to  bring  to  the  membership  of 
the  local  church  a  sense  of  the  reality  of 
prayer  and  the  responsibility  and  privilege 
of  every  Christian  to  utilize  this  primary 
missionary  force.  All  department  commit¬ 
tees  should  join  in  following  out  a  practical 
plan  for  the  whole  church  adopted  by  the 
Church  Missionary  Committee.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  methods  are  suggested : 

( I )  Public  Instruction  on  Prayer  and 
Missions 

The  example  of  the  pastor  in  praying  for 
missions  in  the  public  and  private  services 
of  worship  is  a  most  potent  factor  in  the 
promotion  of  prayer.  He  should  pray  spe¬ 
cifically  for  the  work  or  workers  in  which 
the  local  church  has  particular  interest.  The 
use  by  each  pastor  of  the  prayer  calendar 
adopted  or  approved  by  the  Mission  Boards 
of  his  denomination  is  urged.  The  signifi¬ 
cant  events  of  current  history,  vitally  af¬ 
fecting  the  progress  of  Christianity  in  the 
world,  should  call  forth  public  prayer.  From 
the  pulpit  and  in  the  mid-week  church 
prayer-meeting,  the  pastor  has  a  rare  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  suggest  missionary  topics  for 
prayer  and  to  encourage  the  members  of 
the  congregation  to  practise  the  habit  of 
prayer  for  missions  in  the  home. 

The  opportunity  of  the  general  superin¬ 
tendent  of  the  Sunday-school  and  the  de¬ 
partment  superintendents  to  instruct  the 
young  concerning  prayer  and  missions  is 
second  in  importance  only  to  that  of  the 
pastor  in  the  pulpit  and  of  the  parents  in 
the  home.  The  example  of  the  Sunday- 

27 


school  officers  in  praying  for  missions  dur¬ 
ing  the  opening  and  closing  exercises  is  a 
mighty  factor.  In  like  manner,  teachers  of 
classes  can  give  definite  instruction  to  their 
scholars,  especially  in  connection  with  those 
lessons  that  are  missionary  in  character. 

Missionaries  and  many  laymen  and 
women  are  very  glad  to  give  addresses  or 
testimony  concerning  the  place  and  power 
of  prayer  in  missions  if  asked  to  do  so. 

Use  should  be  made  of  bulletin  or  black¬ 
boards  in  public  rooms  used  for  the  Sunday 
services  of  the  congregation,  the  meetings 
of  the  Sunday-school,  young  people’s  so¬ 
ciety  and  the  men’s  and  women’s  organiza¬ 
tions.  By  this  means  attention  can  be  di¬ 
rected  to  striking  quotations  on  prayer  and 
missions,  to  literature  on  the  subject,  and 
to  definite  subjects  for  prayer,  such  as  mis¬ 
sionaries,  institutions,  important  confer¬ 
ences  or  conventions,  special  needs  or  crises 
on  the  home  and  foreign  fields  or  in  the 
administration  of  missions  by  the  Societies. 

The  Church  Missionary  Committee 
should  display  and  explain  the  helps  to 
prayer,  such  as  the  denominational  year¬ 
books  of  prayer  and  prayer  cycles,  and 
should  enlist  as  many  as  possible  in  their 
use.  The  Committee  may  also  print  mis¬ 
sionary  facts  and  needs,  with  requests  for 
praver,  on  the  church  calendar.  Literature 
on  prayer  and  missions  should  also  be 
circulated  for  private  reading.  Topics  for 
prayer  can  be  printed  on  the  back  of  envel¬ 
opes  containing  the  church  offering. 

28 


(2)  Monthly  or  Other  Missionary  Prayer 

Meetings 

A  definite  missionary  character  should  be 
given  to  one  or  more  of  the  regular  mid¬ 
week  prayer-meetings  or  Sunday  services 
each  month,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Church  Missionary  Committee,  assisted  by 
the  department  committees.  Considerable 
time  should  be  given  to  missionary  interces¬ 
sion  in  the  regular  meetings  of  the  young 
people’s  society  and  the  societies  of  men  and 
women.  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  the 
primary  purpose  of  the  Monthl\  Missionary 
Meetings  are  for  Prayer.  The  monthly  con¬ 
cert  was  originated  as  a  service  of  prayer 
for  missions.  Information  is  indispensable, 
but  it  should  be  presented  with  the  express 
object  of  stimulating  and  giving  point  to 
prayer.  This  applies  with  equal  force  to 
the  monthly  meeting  of  the  young  people’s 
society. 

The  educational  features  of  the  monthly 
missionary  meeting  are  more  fully  set  forth 
under  ‘'A  Program  of  Education.” 

(3)  The  Enlistment  of  Individuals 

Individuals  should  be  enlisted  to  pray 

definitely  for  special  missionaries  and  mis¬ 
sion  stations  or  institutions  at  home  and  in 
foreign  fields.  Special  occasions  for  prayer, 
due  to  emergencies  involved  in  new  or  diffi¬ 
cult  undertakings  or  opportunities,  should 
be  brought  to  the  attention  of  all  who  are 
thus  enlisted.  A  daily  prayer  cycle  should 
be  used.  Heads  of  families  should  be  en¬ 
listed  to  pray  for  missions  regularly  in  fam¬ 
ily  devotions. 


29 


The  report  of  the  Commission  on  the 
Home  Base,  of  the  World  Missionary  Con¬ 
ference,  sums  up  this  section  in  these  not¬ 
able  words  :  ''When  the  Church  sets  itself 
to  pray  with  the  same  seriousness  and 
strength  of  purpose  that  it  has  devoted  to 
other  forms  of  Christian  effort,  it  will  see 
the  kingdom  of  God  come  with  power.” 


3.  A  Program  of  Finance 

( I )  The  Individual  Subscription 

There  is  no  longer  any  need  to  prove  that 
the  occasional  collection  is  an  utterly  inade¬ 
quate  and  obsolete  way  of  providing  for 
either  the  maintenance  of  the  church  or  for 
the  fulfilment  of  its  mission.  Beyond  all 
question  the  best  plan  is  that  presented  in 
I  Cor.  xvi.  2:  "Let  each  one  of  you  (indi¬ 
vidually)  lay  by  him  in  store,  upon  the  first 
day  of  the  week  (systematically),  as  he  may 
prosper  (proportionately),  that  no  collec¬ 
tions  be  made  when  I  come.” 

There  follows  a  form  of  subscription 
which  is  widely  used : 


MISSIONS 


AT  HOME 


Pe. 

ji-rk  . 

46 

&4 

SI 

so 

26 

10 

lk<err  iKa/)  S5  «3 
»mAl)rg  llic 

m  tl&nk 


MISSIONS 


•  Upea  f.r»i  dar  d  the  (STSTtMATICAUI) 

Le*  f^ery  one  ol  yoM  ilWDlVlDUALLY) 

Ur  by  hsQ  A  itofr  aa  God  Had)  prcap«r4^<i  hus  '  <  PROPORTION  ATSLTT. 

“I  C«  J6  2 


Fo*  tHc  ext©nsK>n  ol  ihe  Kingdom  AT  HOME  and 
ABROAD.  I  wish  to  give  on  the  WEEKLY*  b«ai9.  un¬ 
til  revoked,  the  imounts  checked  on  the  mergma. 

I  prefer  to  make  my  paymenl* 

(Stale  whether  weekly,  monthly,  or  if  annually,  when> 


NAME_ _ 

ADDRESS 

*Ail  auUcripitoni  are  edcuUled  qa  WEEKLY  baMs.  altKcH.igh 
payerais  mar  br  made  aa  desirvd.  it  no  praiermce  u  espmaad.  pax- 
meet  wiil  b«  undr-rucsd  tp  bar 


MISSIONS 


ABROAD 


Pe.  \ 

14 

. — 

S3 

S2 

SI 

60 

.26 

.10 

Eniei  amou/tB 
Urgai  iKao  or 
•mafief  than  I  Or 
»a  blank  «>acea 


T  An  /ar*  of  €erJ  /orni$k«J  only  o»  iprrte/  re^utit  'DUPLE  X‘‘‘Tii(hmond,  I'#. 


30 


The  weekly  offering-  plan  is  best,  because  ; 

a.  It  is  zcorshipfiil.  It  provides  for  the 
exercise  of  the  grace  of  giving  as  an  inte¬ 
gral  part  of  the  services  of  the  Lord’s  Day, 
thus  uniting  it  with  prayer. 

b.  It  is  educational  It  keeps  the  Church’s 
mission  before  the  people  habitually. 

c.  It  is  effectual  It  enlists  more  givers 
and  enables  them  to  give  more. 

d.  It  is  econouiical  Furnishing  funds 
regularly,  it  saves  interest  and  prevents 
indebtedness. 

e.  It  is  equable  and  helpf'ul  to  all  interests. 
Ly  tapping  fresh  springs,  it  swells  the 
stream  of  contributions  for  current  ex¬ 
penses  and  for  all  causes. 

(2)  The  Annual  Every-Member  Canvass 

The  best  way  to  secure  the  individual 
subscription  is  by  a  personal  canvass  of  the 
entire  congregation.  Experience  suggests 
the  following  way  of  launching  and  carry¬ 
ing  out  this  canvass. 

a.  Elave  a  conference  at  a  supper,  with 
tickets  purchased  in  advance. 

b.  Display  the  facts,  showing  the  number 
of  givers  and  what  the  church  has  given, 
both  in  the  aggregate  and  per  capita,  for : 

fa)  Current  expenses. 

fb)  Missionary  causes  in  America. 

fc)  Missions  abroad. 

c.  After  full  discussion,  set  a  definite 
financial  goal  for  missions  for  the  ensuing 
vear,  resolving  by  rising  vote  to  cooperate 
in  reaching  it. 

d.  Ask  for  no  subscriptions  at  the  supjier. 

e.  Appoint  canvassers  (an  every-nieniber 

31 


canvass  committee),  including  representa¬ 
tives  of  all  the  cooperating  departments. 
Instruct  them  carefully  in  the  methods  of 
the  canvass  and  in  the  work  of  the  mis¬ 
sions  to  be  supported  by  the  church. 

f.  Divide  the  canvassers  into  teams  of 
two  each. 

g.  Assign  the  entire  congregation  to  these 
teams  to  canvass  for  an  offering  on  the 
weekly  basis. 

h.  Prepare  the  way  by  use  of  literature 
and  special  preparation  from  the  pulpit  by 
the  pastor  and  by  lay  speakers,  and  through 
all  the  cooperating  organizations.  This  pe¬ 
riod  of  preparation  should  cover  not  less 
than  three  weeks. 

i.  Permeate  the  entire  canvass  with 
prayer  as  a  spiritual  service  rendered  to  the 
Master. 

j.  Set  a  limit — not  exceeding  two  weeks 
— within  which  the  canvass  shall  be  com¬ 
pleted. 

Giving,  like  prayer,  is  a  Christian  grace. 
The  father  cannot  exercise  this  grace  for 
his  child  nor  the  wife  and  mother  for  her 
husband  and  family.  The  church  owes  it 
to  its  membership  to  give  each  member  a 
share  in  the  missionary  work  of  the  church. 
No  Christian  life  is  complete  which  does 
not  have  part  in  the  world-wide  work  of  the 
Kingdom. 

(3)  The  Weekly  Envelope 

The  best  collecting  device  yet  discovered 
is  a  double  envelope,  providing  in  one 
pocket  for  the  maintenance  of  the  church 
locally,  and  in  the  other  for  the  whole  mis- 

32 


sion  of  the  church,  in  the  homeland  and 
abroad. 

Such  an  envelope  as  this  is  widely  used  : 


240  OCT  22  191 1 

OCT  22  1911  240 

‘Xet  every  one  of  you  {Individually)  lay 

‘‘Bring  an  offering  and  come  into  His 

by  him  in  store  on  the  first  day  of  the  week 
{SystemaHciUy)  as  God  hath  prosperoi 

courts.”— Psa,  96  :8. 

iPr-jportumatcly) Cor.  16:  2. 

BENEVOLENCES 

CURRENT  EXPENSES 

- FOR - 

FOR  THE  SUPPORT  OF  THE 

Cbc  €xteti$loii  Of  tnc  HingaoiD 

Central  CI)urcI) 

At  Home  $ . 

OF  NEW  YORK 

Abroad  $ 

$ _ 

P«T  PENOiNO 

This  plan 

a.  Promotes  regular,  systematic  and  lib¬ 
eral  giving. 

b.  Promotes  this  for  both  current  ex¬ 
penses  and  missionary  offerings. 

c.  Enables  the  contributor  to  give  the 
largest  possible  amount  with  the  least  pos¬ 
sible  strain. 

d.  Puts  the  mission  of  the  church  anrl 
its  maintenance  side  by  side,  and  calls  for 
a  sense  of  proportion  between  these  claims. 

e.  Obviates  the  multiplication  of  envel¬ 
opes  for  special  causes. 

f.  Makes  it  ]:)ossible  either  to  have  a 
separate  treasurer  for  the  benevolences, 
which  is  usually  advisable,  or  to  have  but 
one  for  the  two  funds. 

g.  kfay  have  requests  for  prayer  for 
every  month  printed  on  the  back,  thus  link- 

33 


ing'  the  grace  of  giving  with  the  ministry 
of  intercession. 

(4)  The  Specific  Object 
Concrete  and  specific  appeals  are  more 
stimulating  to  the  imagination  than  those 
which  are  general  and  abstract.  Hence, 
some  mission  boards,  both  home  and  for¬ 
eign,  have  found  it  helpful  to  reduce  the 
broad  generalization  of  Missions  to  the 
more  concrete  terms  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Station  Plan,  or  the  Parish  at  Home 
and  the  Parish  Abroad.  By  this  is  meant 
so  much  of  the  work  in  some  particular 
station  (in  its  entirety  and  all  its  rich  va¬ 
riety  of  evangelistic,  medical,  educational, 
industrial,  and  Christian  literature  work)  as 
the  subscriptions  of  the  members  of  any 
church  for  this  purpose  may  cover.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  ascertain  by  correspond¬ 
ence  with  the  denominational  missionary 
societies  whether  either  of  these  plans  are 
in  use,  and,  if  not,  by  what  methods  defi¬ 
nite  contact  with  the  work  on  the  fields,  at 
home  and  abroad,  may  be  established  and 
maintained.  Most  Boards  do  not  approve 
of  the  old  plan  of  assigning  a  native  worker 
for  support,  and  therefore  the  Station  Plan 
and  the  plan  of  the  Parish  at  home  and 
abroad  have  been  provided. 

(5)  Christian  Stewardship 

The  Committee  should  seek  by  every 
means  within  its  power  to  promote  higher 
ideals  of  Christian  Stewardship.  The  great 
need  of  the  hour  is  for  a  vital  conception  of 
the  Christian  use  of  monev  and  the  enlist¬ 
ment  of  every  Christian  as  a  contributor 

34 


and  an  adequate  supporter  of  the  work  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ. 

(6)  A  Standard 

An  increasing  number  of  churches  be¬ 
lieve  that  they  should  give  not  less  for  the 
extension  of  the  Kingdom  through  all  the 
world  than  they  expend  upon  their  own 
maintenance.  Manv  should  give  verv  much 
more.  This  standard  is  recommended  as 
an  objective  for  every  church. 

(7)  Correlation  of  Giving  Plans 

The  chief  difficulty  in  laying  out  and  ex¬ 
ecuting  a  unified  plan  of  missionary  activi¬ 
ties  in  the  local  church  centers  in  the  adop¬ 
tion  of  the  missionary  budget,  the  securing 
of  subscriptions,  the  collection  of  the 
money,  and  the  disbursement  of  the  funds. 
This  difficulty  must  be  recognized,  and 
faced  with  patience,  resolution,  and  wisdom. 
Traditional  methods  can  and  should  be  ad¬ 
justed,  or  even  abandoned,  if  thereby  the 
cooperation  of  the  entire  church  can  be  en¬ 
listed  in  a  concerted  effort.  The  following 
suggestions  deal  with  the  details  of  the 
problem  of  harmonizing  and  uniting  the 
several  financial  plans  and  activities  of  the 
average  parish  : 

a.  A  financial  objective  or  budget  for  the 
entire  church,  including  all  departments  and 
all  objects  approved  by  tbe  church,  should 
be  adopted. 

b.  The  every-member  canvass  is  unques¬ 
tionably  the  best  method  of  securing  sub¬ 
scriptions,  and  the  weekly  offering  the  best 
basis  of  subscription  and  collection.  These 

35 


two  methods  are  suited  to  all  ages  and  de¬ 
partments  of  the  church. 

c.  In  the  actual  execution  of  these  plans 
it  will  usually  be  found  that  heretofore  the 
congregation,  the  women’s  societies,  the 
young  people’s  society,  the  men’s  organiza¬ 
tion,  and  various  other  groups  or  classes  in 
the  church,  have  had  independent  budgets, 
treasurers,  and  methods  of  collecting  and 
disbursing  funds.  In  some  cases  difficulty 
has  arisen  over  the  asserted  right  of  this 
or  that  organization  to  the  exclusive  finan¬ 
cial  cultivation  of  a  certain  group.  Dupli¬ 
cation  of  financial  appeal  has  been  common. 
The  advocates  of  the  plan  of  unifying  the 
schemes  of  education  and  giving  believe 
that  far  larger  results  will  be  obtained  if 
the  church  as  a  whole  adopts  a  comprehen¬ 
sive  budget. 

The  commission  of  twelve  which  has  pre¬ 
pared  this  manual  recognizes  the  difficulty 
of  the  task  of  bringing  about  at  once  a 
complete  unifying  of  financial  effort.  It 
has  concluded  that  this  special  subject  re¬ 
quires  more  careful  study,  and  consultation 
with  a  large  number  of  leaders,  represent¬ 
ing  the  various  societies  and  organizations 
to  which  the  various  departments  of  the 
local  church  owe  allegiance.  It  has,  there¬ 
fore,  recommended  to  the  four  organiza¬ 
tions  by  which  the  joint  commission  was 
appointed  that  provision  be  made  for  this 
further  study,  in  the  hope  that  shortly  a 
complete  and  authoritative  statement  on  the 
subject  may  be  included  in  a  later  edition 
of  this  manual. 


36 


For  the  present  it  is  strongly  recommend¬ 
ed  that  the  every-member  canvass  be  car¬ 
ried  out  to  the  last  member  of  the  church 
and  congregation ;  that  the  subscriptions 
should  be  returned,  as  far  as  possible,  in 
duplex  envelopes,  through  the  congrega¬ 
tional  offerings  ;  and  that  the  separate  gifts 
of  the  several  departments  of  the  church, 
including  the  Sunday-school,  the  men’s  and 
women’s  organizations,  and  the  young  peo¬ 
ple’s  society  or  societies  should  be  over  and 
above  the  adopted  missionary  budget  of  the 
church,  or  else  that  a  definite  apportionment 
of  parts  of  the  missionary  budget  be  made 
to  them. 

4.  A  Program  of  Service 

The  early  Christian  Church  was  a  wit¬ 
ness-bearing  Church,  and  its  marvelous  suc¬ 
cess  is  largely  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  every  Christian  was  a  missionary.  The 
Church  of  to-day  calls  loudly  for  personal 
Christian  service  in  the  communitv  anfl  the 
dedication  of  life  to  the  various  forms  of 
Christian  work  at  home  and  abroad.  This 
may  be  realized  by : 

(i)  The  enlistment  and  training  of  lead¬ 
ers  and  workers  for  all  the  departments  and 
committees  of  the  local  church.  Such  serv¬ 
ice  will  be  a  means  of  developing  a  sense  of 
responsibility  for  others,  which  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  all  missionarv  endeavor.  Spe¬ 
cial  attention  should  be  given  by  the  Church 
Missionary  Committee  to  the  multiplication 
of  opportunities  for  definite  Christian  ac¬ 
tivity. 


37 


(2)  A  scientific  survey  of  the  church  in 
relation  to  its  community,  and  an  enrolment 
of  volunteer  workers  in  the  activities  of  the 
various  charitable,  social,  and  religious  in¬ 
stitutions. 

(3)  The  presentation  to  young  people  of 
the  call  to  Christian  service  as  a  life-work, 
emphasizing  the  ministry  and  the  work  of 
missions  both  in  the  homeland  and  in  for¬ 
eign  mission  fields. 

(4)  The  presentation  of  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  every  Christian  to  view  his  vo¬ 
cation  as  an  opportunity  to  serve  the  king¬ 
dom  of  God. 

IV.  Bibliography 

The  literature  and  supplies  listed  in  this  Bibli¬ 
ography  should  be  ordered  of  the  Home  or  For¬ 
eign  Board  of  one’s  own  denomination. 

T.  The  Church  Missionary  Coniinittee  and 

Its  JVork 

The  Church  ^Missionary  Committee,  Its  Fields  and 
Functions.  Intended  for  free  distribution. 
A  four-page  leaflet  containing  in  briefest  out¬ 
line  the  contents  of  this  IManual. 

Suggestions  to  Leaders  in  the  Every-Member 
Canvass.  Laymen’s  Missionary  ^Movement, 
Xew  York.  Price,  5  cents. 

A  pamphlet  giving  instructions  to  the  can¬ 
vassing  committee  for  carrying  on  their  work 
with  lasting  results. 

They  Did  It.  Laymen’s  ^Missionary  ^Movement, 
New  York.  Price.  5  cents. 

A  pamphlet  exhibiting  the  record  and  testi¬ 
mony  of  churches  in  which  the  every-member 
canvass  and  the  weekly  offering  have  been 
used. 

Community  Study,  by  W.  H.  Wilson.  Mis¬ 
sionary  Education  IMovement,  New  York. 
Price,  35  cents. 


38 


A  practical  scheme  for  the  investigation 
of  the  problems  of  the  large  town  or  city 
ward. 

It  W  on’t  W  ork  Wdth  Us.  Laymen's  ^Missionary 
Movement  of  the  Alethodist  Episcopal 
Church,  150  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York.  Price, 
5  cents. 

t-A  pamphlet  answering  the  stock  objections 
to  the  hnancial  plans  advocated  in  this  i\Ian- 

ual. 

Subscription  cards  and  envelopes  for  use  in  the 
every-member  canvass  should  be  obtained 
from  the  denominational  Mission  Boards. 

A  catalogue  of  Mission  Study  literature,  with  a 
presentation  of  methods  that  have  succeeded. 
Free  on  application  to  the  ^Missionary  Educa¬ 
tion  Alovement. 

Mission  Study  Class  Manual,  by  B.  C.  Millikin. 
Missionary  Education  klovement.  New  York. 
Price,  5  cents. 

A  Cycle  of  Prayer  for  the  World,  hy  Wk  E. 
Doughty.  Laymen’s  Missionary  Movement 
and  Missionary  Education  Movement,  New 
York.  Price,  10  cents. 

Missionary  Map  of  the  WYrld,  on  muslin,  in  col¬ 
ors,  5x9I4  feet.  Missionary  Education  Move¬ 
ment,  New  York.  Price,  $3.00,  postpaid. 

2.  The  Pastor 

The  Pastor  and  Modern  Missions :  A  Plea  for 
Leadership  in  World  Ifvangelization,  Ijy  John 
R.  Mott.  1904.  Student  Volunteer  Move¬ 
ment,  New  York.  Price,  $1.00. 

A  discussion  of  the  pastor  as  an  educa¬ 
tional,  a  financial,  a  recruiting,  and  a  spiritual 
force  in  the  world’s  evangelization. 


3.  The  Sunday  School 

A  catalogue  of  Sunday  School  literature  and  sup¬ 
plies,  together  with  a  missionary  policy  for 
the  Sunday  School.  Free  on  a])plication  to 
the  Boards  or  the  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York. 

39 


Fifty-eight  Varieties:  One  Better,  by  Joseph 
Clark.  Missionary  Education  Movement, 
Xew  York.  Price  5  cents. 

A  parnphlet  with  a  list  of  fifty-eight  varieties  of 
missionary  activities  for  adult  Bible  classes. 

^Missionary  iMethods  for  Sunday  School  Workers, 
hy  George  H.  Trull.  Revised  edition,  1910. 
Board  Covers.  Missionary  Education  Move¬ 
ment,  New  York.  Price,  50  cents ;  postage,  7 
cents  extra. 

The  Adult  Bible  Class  and  Missions.  A  four- 
page  leaflet  giving  a  missionary  policy  for  the 
adult  Bible  class.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York. 

List  of  Courses  on  the  Suggested  Themes  for 
Missionary  Instruction  in  adult  Bible  classes. 
A  four-page  leaflet.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  New  York. 

4.  Missionary  Magazines 

The  denominational  missionary  magazine.  It  is  of 
first  importance  that  each  missionary  worker 
should  subscribe  for  his  denominational 
magazine. 

The  Missionary  Review  of  the  World.  Eunk  & 
Wagnalls,  New  York.  Price,  $2.50. 

An  illustrated  monthly  magazine  of  mis¬ 
sionary  methods,  problems,  biography,  and 
history. 

The  International  Review  of  ^Missions,  klission- 
arv  Education  Movement,  Xiew  York.  Price, 
$2.00. 

A  quarterly  for  advanced  readers. 

]\Ien  and  Missions.  Laymen’s  Missionary  iMove- 
ment,  1  Madison  Avenue,  New  York.  Month¬ 
ly.  Price,  50  cents. 

The  iMoslem  World.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Co., 
New  York,  American  Agent.  Price,  $1.00. 

A  quarterly  review  of  current  events,  litera¬ 
ture.  and  thought  among  lilohammedans,  and 
the  progress  of  Christian  Missions  in  ^Moslem 
lands. 


40 


